1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the electrical wiring of a house or apartment building, in general, and to the installation of the electrical service panels used therein, in particular.
2. Description of the Related Art
As appreciated, enhanced safety codes for the installation of electrical wiring in the building industry are increasingly being proposed and adopted. One recently approved code changed the traditional way of wiring into an electrical service panel—where the wires (no matter their gauge) were allowed to hang loose in connecting to the individual circuit breakers through the knock-out holes of the panel. With the adopted code provision, the wires now have to be supported a prescribed distance from the top of the panel.
The typical approach for dealing with this change was to cut a piece of wood, nail it between adjacent studs which secured the panel in place, and staple each pair of wires to the wood as a support. This approach, however, presents the undesirable possibility that the metal staples might pierce the wires and give rise to “arcing” and fire. Even were this not the case, though, the procedure would still entail having to find a piece of wood as the support, cutting it to size, getting a hammer and nails to secure the support to the studs, getting a stapling gun, and then stapling each wire in place. Analysis has shown that this could take even an experienced electrician 45 minutes and more to secure the wiring according to code, and to take anywheres from 2-½ to 3 hours to install a single service panel. Obviously, it would be desirable if this 45 minutes of preparation time could be reduced—while, at the same instant, reducing the possibility of arcing because of pierced wiring when power is turned on.